Aug 12 2010
austriamicrosystems, an innovator in the field of analog IC’s, unveiled its latest offering, the AS3900 27 MHz FSK (frequency shift keying) low power transceiver with a network management protocol embedded in it.
This transceiver operates in the 27 MHz worldwide ISM band, giving a wide berth to the interference normally located in the 2.4GHz band resulting in low SAR (specific absorption rates) i.e. the reduced energy absorption amounts by the human body. This is the main concern for transmitters such as BAN (body area network) and MBAN (medical body area network) operating in the vicinity of the human body.
The built in hardwired network management protocol, makes for a simpler product design, and also lowers system power, in contrast to other networks, running on either internal or external microcontrollers. The transceiver needs 3.8 and 4.9 mA in receive and transmit modes, and 2.5 µA in polling mode, inclusive of the power needed to run the star network.
According to Bruce Ulrich, austriamicrosystems’ Director of Marketing Consumer and Communications, this transceiver has guided the low powered transceiver markets into new levels of simplicity, because of the necessity for systems design engineers to seek advice from experts in network protocol has become redundant, and also the time needed to market these products has decreased greatly.
The AS3900 is suitable for low power short-range data exchange applications, including data transfer between systems that are close to the body, such as body area networks, medical and intelligent sporting goods, and industrial automation. It functions with a minute PCB antenna resonating at 27MHz, facilitating enhanced penetration of fluids and also impedes reflections emitting erroneous range estimations by the use of RSSI (received signal strength indication).
It sends out data at 212Kbit/s, and its integrated functions comprise of a clock, the power amplifier, and battery level detection, power on reset (POR) and system timers and 24 bits of one-time programmable memory. Easy system integration is possible because of onboard CRC (cyclic redundancy check), Digital RSSI, and a bi-directional SDI bus (serial digital interface). This product is ready to be marketed, in a 5x5 mm 28-pin QFN pack, functioning with a power supply of 2.2 Volt, and operating temperatures ranging between -40 and +85°C.
Source: http://www.austriamicrosystems.com